The First Death Row Blogger.VERNON DOES NOT HAVE INTERNET ACCESS. If you send questions to the email adddress MeetVernon@GMail.com, I will print and mail your questions to Vernon. (Read the introduction.)

Thursday, January 26, 2006

New Death Warrent- Feb 6, 2006

On January 9th, Baltimore County Circuit Judge John Grason Turnbull II signed a new death warrant Vernon- for the week of February 6, 2006.

This blog was paused last spring due to various concerns, but it may have updates again soon.

Thank you to everyone who has written to Vernon with your questions and comments.

Where do you get off defending a mans life, who has lived 20+ years longer than his victims, who said at a resentencing in 1992, "It's not hard for me to say I am truly sorry for having been that type of individual that would take two innocent lives."

I am sorry but he did the crime and got lots of time to feel bad and get people to feel bad for him. He is not a victim here. He is a sucker of tax dollars for 20+ years and should have been gone long ago. If it was a case that could be genetically solved, I am all for the clearing. His admissions ruins everything. I cannot think of one thing that I would not say at this point, if I was Vernon, to avoid the end...

An eye for an eye.

Peace from Scott in AZ

(your life here may be ending but you can do more after you're gone-Go With God)

I am sure this comment will be removed, since this is a pro-murderer website... but Ill state my peice anyway. You chose to be judge, jury and executioner of the people you killed. Now a few people who beleive that you should be released started this blog. You have inspired me to be an advocate for the death penalty... a filthy swine like yourself... look at your dirty little murderous hands. I hope your stomach churns with anxiety and you cant eat your last meal. You enjoyed killing those people. Can you tell me why David Peichowicz and Susan Kennedy deserved to die?... why did they get the death penalty?? I can come up with two reasons you deserve to die. I will celebrate your death... party at my house on the 6th!!!

I wish that the Death Penalty was not necessary in our world. I am neither passive or extreme in my belief of execution as punishment for the crimes of murder and treason.

To Phil who believe in redemption...God bless you. You are obviously a man who has conducted his life in a manner that is consistent with upholding the moral laws of your community. Redemption is not something that will save a person's life in this world. Redemption is that which will save a person's soul in the kingdom of heaven.

If Vernon has truly redeemed himself in the name of God, he will be given his place among Him in Heaven. However, Vernon must pay for the crimes that he has committed on this earth. The law was not created after his crimes. We all make our choices in life and if the choice is the wrong choice, we must answer to it. Vernon must answer to his crimes whether he has redeeemed himself or not. This law is not religious...it is not personal. It is just and right according to the law and is necessary for the deterent of others that choose to follow in the footsteps of wrongdoers.

I'm sorry that 2 of your first 4 comments on this post are from ignorant/self-righteous people. I believe in redemption, and I believe in redemption here on Earth. Just as it is wrong to murder someone, it is equally wrong for the state to kill a man or woman, regardless of the crime.

I hope that come February 6th you won't be executed. I truly respect you and for what its worth, you're in my thoughts.

Don't know your story, don't know if you are guilty or not. But apparently independently of what verdict is, you have made the most important decision of your life. Which is to accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. May God Bless you and your family.

And bloggers below with comments that just blow my mind, don't forget when pointing the finger at someone there are 4 fingers pointing back at you. If you don't know all the facts, what gives you the right to condemn somebody.

Just remember you are in the same boat as Vernon, we are ALL sinners. And until you realize what was done on the cross of calvary for each and every one of us you are also condemned to a lost eternity.

For God so Loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlating life. John 3:16. If you are interested and need more info read this.http://www.godssimpleplan.org/gsps-english.html

I'm not writing to judge you, to condemn you, to tell you you're getting what you deserve, nor am I here to say that you should be exonerated and that the dealth penalty is wrong. I'm simply here to express my heartfelt condolences for what you're going through and to let you know that a fellow Marylander is thinking of you. Guilty or not, my heart grieves for you and anyone in your situation. I don't know if you really committed these murders or not - that is between you and God. If you are guilty, I am not making excuses for you, but I will say that you will be in my prayers regardless of what you have and have not done. We are all sinners, and whatever you have or have not done, none of us has the right to say what should or should not happen to you, nor do we have the right to bash you and call you names. Whatever the outcome, I pray for your soul, that you are forgiven of your sins, and are redeemed, and will rest eternally with the Lord Jesus Christ. Continue to pray and have faith, and remember that the only judgement that ultimately counts is the one you will face before the Heavenly Father. Man's opinions and actions on this Earth will not last, only what you do for the Lord and where you are in your relationship with Him will count. If you are guilty of these crimes, and the law declares that you must sacrifice your life, I pray that you find peace in the arms of the Lord. He will be near you through the valley of the shadow of death. Repent and His forgiveness is given to you freely. They may take your Life, but your Soul is untouchable, except by God.

You've mentioned several times in your posts the impact that God has had in your life. You've also mentioned that you are not guilty of the crimes you've been sent to death row for, and have variously blamed the judicial system, prosecutors, your own lawyer, politics and racism for the straits you find yourself in. What portion of blame do you take for yourself?

You cannot seem to admit your own past crimes. You are not a criminal, but merely "lived in a way that I thought I needed to live in order to survive." You were not a criminal, you were merely "in a criminal environment."

Mr. Jordan, I'm not a minister or preacher. But I do know that being a Christian does not mean merely forgiving others for the wrongs they've done us; it also means taking responsibility for the wrongs we've done to others and seeking their forgiveness.

Now, because of your legal circumstances, I do not expect you to publicly own up to what you've done while there is still a chance for a commutation or reverasal of your sentence. But you really should refrain from playing the victim. Those of us who know about your case know who the real victims were. It's my opninion that you should try to truly embrace your newfound religion, especially in begging God for forgiveness for your crimes. In that effort, you may truly find some peace, especially if, as appears likely, your sentence is carried out.

I'm sure you are familiar with James Hamm, the convicted murderer who reformed himself as far as he could and earned a law degree but was turned down in his application for a license to practice law by the Arizona bar association anyway (they claim he was not 'moral' enough to practice law). If you're not familiar, I wrote a bit about Hamm in a blog posting from October, the prison that follows prison, and in addition to since being denied his law license (I wrote that before the decision), he was a couple of years ago forced out of a teaching job at ASU by people who hounded the department chair until he withdrew his offer of employment to Mr. Hamm.

Now, you insist that this sentence must be carried out to the letter of the law. But, are you willing to also come out and say that because James Hamm's sentence was also carried out (he served the time he was sentenced to), we should abide by that instead of trying to tack on the additional punishment that he should be unable to find employment?

Just wondering.

deathpenalty: You state that the murderer enjoyed killing the victims. How do you know what he was thinking? Were you there? And partying when a man dies? You are one seriously sick dude. Call a shrink.

Mike: How is it necessary to deter wrongdoers? Twelve states (mostly in the north and northeast, plus Alaska and Hawaii) don't have the death penalty, and most of them have lower murder rates than the states that have the death penalty. Countries in the E.U. don't have it (abolishing the death penalty is necessary for E.U. membership.) And like U.S. states with no death penalty, the E.U. is hardly being overrun with murderers. Heck, the states that have executed the most people, Texas and Florida, are both towards the high end among states in terms of their murder rate. So, whatever the death penalty is, a deterrent, it is not.

Truly pro-life: You bring up an interesting point. We have seen the state abuse their powers in everything from wiretapping without a warrant to holding a U.S. citizen for years without a charge (the Padilla case). Do we really want to hand over to the government the right to kill anyone?

lemme use an analogy for you guys, since i seem to love analogies, and seem to have a creative side others don't.

DP (dealth penalty) is kinda like raisans, and lets suppose you feed raisans to little children. And suppose you decide all little children should eat raisans, and in the process you start a profitable raisan business. I guess my point is, the Death Penalty is wrong, and it doesnt matter whether Vernon is innocent, or guilty of riddling people with bullets. I myself don't want to state sanction executing old Vernon.

Vernon I'm very sorry, no human should be subjected to this, unless of course it was a good proven deterrant. If you death penalty activists could give me some scientific proof that the dealth penalty were any useful deterrent, then I would say string em up, as if I were like some naive and corrupt politician who put all our eggs in one basket, and has us currently in a bit of quagmire with no good out, and the point is not to dig deeper.

Death Penalty is cruel and unusual, and therefore should be categorized under illegal.

Not only is it not a deterrent, but I have to think, given that the highest murder rates are in states that have it, that the example of the state killing people cheapens life as a whole and plays into why those places have higher murder rates. So I believe that having the death penalty actually promotes murder, not deters it.

And yeah, that is an unproven hypothesis, but I can make at least as good a case for it as people who claim that it is a deterrent (also an unproven hypothesis.)

If I had committed a crime and murdered two people as you confessed to doing, I'm sure I would not want to die, however I would feel I deserved to die because I have a deep sense of personal responsiblity. Now lawyers who spend all their time appealing death sentences of admitted and convicted criminals are as much of a drain on our society and it's resources as supporting you on death row is. Apparently these lawyers, and folks who are opposed to the death penalty don't see the connection between a persons decisions and actions and their consequences. So for example, if I decided tomorrow to kill a few hundred or a thousand people but felt regret about it the week after then I would be entitled to free state care and an army of lawyers to spring me free. In a society where personal responsibility for our actions is not important, where we are not held accountable for our deeds, that society is doomed. One need look no further than the lovely example of New Orleans after the hurricane. People who don't hold themselves accountable, who always find lawyers and excuses, are the reason we have so many people killed, so many murderers back out on the street murdering again. The lawyers who support this criminal-rights over victim-rights and society-rights are a drain on society.

I wasn't sad to hear they pushed his date to die forward. The sooner he dies the better, I'm sure the family of the murder victims feel the same way. And you who want him to live, have you ever suffered the loss of a loved one to a cold blooded murderer? I'd like to see what you thought if you did.

Everyone on here who has posted for the death penalty, saying an eye for eye, should read the "New Testement" How many times should I forgive?, someone asked Christ, Christ said "7 x 77 times", he also said "Turn the other cheak".

or "Its a deterent" Is it? really? I live here in the UK we don't have the death penalty, we also don't have a high murder rate, go figure!!!

"He who is with out sin, can cast the first stone."

To take someone life is totally wrong, but two wrongs do not make a right.

Vernon, you are in Prayers, the Lord, knows your true heart and he is with you.

You, maggot deserve to die. Not only that, you deserve to rot in Hell for all eternity. I will celebrate your death. I hope it is painfull and that you are aware of what is happening as the chemicals enter your viens. I hope it hurts when your lungs become paralized and can no longer breath. I pray that it hurts as your heart stops beating. I hope the fear leading up to your execution is too much to bare. You make me sick. I only wish you had two lives so they could kill you twice. I will have a drink and celebrate when you pass out of this life into your damnation. I have wasted enough time on you now. Go to Hell!

One thing I think all who oppose the death penalty don't think about is the true victims. You're so wrapped up in claiming the convicted as the victim that you've completely lost sight of the horrible tragedy that came at the hands of this criminal by his own admission. Remember...he was faced with the decision to kill or not to kill. He choose to kill and thus should be justly punished. What is the appropriate penalty for taking a life in a brutal and premediated attack if not to face the same horrible demise as your innocent victims?

Speaking as a victim of attempted murder by the same person who murdered my brother, I feel sad that Darren cannot see beyond the sheer vindictiveness of his comments. There is nothing to celebrate over a person dying particularly as there would seem to be evidence that Vernon could be innocent. Execution can deny a victim the chance to talk to the killer over years. I went through hell as a double victim. I know the anger all too well. Ironically I went through a period of suicidal depression because I could not express the anger.Group Psychotherapy helped, a process I would recommend to any victim of violent crime, but Darren, violence only feeds a climate of more violence. Execution deters nothing. Many criminals have been victims of violence themselves that they project onto others. If my attempted murderer and the killer of my brother had been executed I would never have had the opportunity to find out many years later that the killer in my brother's case was mentally ill. Talking to the killer was a therapy for me. It put the crimes into a different perspective. Execution would have been no closure for me. Don't think talking is a soft option. It's not, it's hard work. It is execution that is the "easy" way out. And how would you feel Darren if the person you are so anxious to see suffer turns out to be innocent in a miscarriage of justice? What does that make you??As the Group Psychotherapist once said, there are plenty of angry people in the Bible. Try to be a little more humane eh? You could do with "celebrating" something more useful.

To Darren. I do not want you to think I am putting you down. I understand your anger. Perhaps you've been hurt? And I admit that after the crimes against my brother and myself (stabbed and headbeaten) I felt suicidal which is first reaction anger to kill but ironically turnrd inwards. ("Trying to kill the wrong person" as came out in Group Therapy) Suicide is the angriest statement a person can make and parallels well with the desire to execute. But who is the "right" person to execute? Vernon who is probably innocent and a victim of bad lawyering, or the person who sexually molested and beat Vernon as a child if vernon did do the crime? The witness evidence does not match up. Are you advocating the torture, that you have, of an innocent man to satisfy some blood-lust? To kill in revenge is a first instinct. It takes an evolution of emotional work to realise that this instinct is limited. Execution means the victim survivor stops. There's no follow up. It has taken me 40 years to learn this, to reach a point of "closure" and that learning process leading to closure is an achievement for me with the present daily problem of the epilepsy that the murderer gave me through smashing my brain in the lower left temporal lobe. No one would choose to be a victim of crime but when it is forced on us we have the option of learning from pain, but we victims cannot do that alone. Psychotherapy in a group is the best environment in my view to move on. To learn about ourselves and others from our pain And will I be shot down in flames for suggesting that as many violent criminals are themselves victims of violent childhood crime (their crimes anger turned outwards)that they be offered psychotherapy too and not the death penalty?